Ribbon inking device



Nov. 28, 1950 w. J. KREIDER RIBBON INKING DEVICE Filed July 10, 1946 Ihwcntor WALTER J. KREIDER Patented Nov. 28, 1950 RIBBON INKING DEVICE Walter J. Kreider, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to The National Cash Register Company, Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of Maryland Application July 10, 1946, Serial No. 682,691

3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to new, useful and practical means for inking ribbons, both single color and multi-color ribbons, while the ribbons are in actual use.

By this invention the ribbons are reinked and the wetness thereof is controlled particularly for ribbons used in cash registers, accounting machines, and other types of business machines where it is necessary to obtain certain results of additions, subtractions, itemizing of data, the balance and/or totals thereof, and other calcula tion results in the form of printed records.

In producing such printed records it is highly desirable that the records be legible at all tin es and to produce legible records ink ribbons of various kinds are used, such as long endless ribbons and straight ribbons on spools. Lhe invention is shown in. use with ribbons of the latter type.

For illustrative purposes, the inventionisshown applied to an accounting machine of the general type illustrated in United States Letters Eatent No. 2,141,332, issued December 27, 1938, to Charles H. Arnold, and No. 2,351,541, issued June 13, 1944 to Everett H. Placke. However, it is not intended i to limit the use of this invention to this particular type of accounting machine as it lends itself for use with many other types of business machines.

It is known that the ribbons now on the m r ket in use with the types of machines above men: tioned have to be changed very frequently, sometimes as often as once a day, due to theexhaustion of ink through usage, where the printed records soon become very dim and often illegible. And furthermore, the drier the ribbon, the 'more subject it is to Wear from impact with the print: ing type and such conditions also necessitate frequent changes of the ribbon.

Therefore, in order to be able to produce properly inked printed records from cash registers, and particularly accounting machines, the condi: tion of the ink ribbon must be controlled. so that the desired wetness of the ribbon can be maintained for the life of the ribbon.

In accounting machines, and particularly those used in the making up of payrolls for factories and other establishments, the ribbons are. subjected to extremely hard, usage, due to the fact that many thousands of checksare written. daily by the machines. For each. check. the. minimum number of printedimpressions made thereon usually runs 6 and more often runs 8 and 10, dependingupon the number of deductions which are taken from theemployees payf A-jo urnal shee t and an audit strip is also printed at the same time the check is printed, each receiving the same number of prints as the check. Therefore, as stated above, it is very often necessary to change the ink ribbon every da and sometimes more than once a day, in order to obtain legible printed records on the employees checks and on the records which are printed and retained within the machine.

To find ways and means to make the ribbons last longer, and at the same time produce good, legible, printed records from those ribbons, during the life of the ribbons, created a problem of great importance and particularly so when considered from the standpoint of the maintenance of the ink ribbons to obviate the necessity of the very frequent replacements while the machines are in use.

There are many advantages gained by providing a properly inked ribbon and maintaining such condition of the ribbon throughout its life. A properly inked ribbon will stand up, under the impact of hammer blows, longer than a dry ribbon, and consequently the user of the machine saves both time and money. The ribbons reinked and controlled by the present invention have a much longer life, and consequentl do not have to be changed nearly as often as the ribbons now on the market.

One important advantage of the present method of inking the ribbon is that the ink is applied to the ribbon during the feeding movement thereof only. A thin film of ink is transmitted to a crowned roller of non-ink absorbing material, and since this roller is turned by the ribbon when the latter is fed, there is no ink absorption by the ribbon from this crowned roller when the ribbon is not moving. Therefore, the proper wetness of the ribbon is controlled and consequently the ribbon is never over-inked.

Moreover the inking and the control of the ribbon by means of the present invention permits the use of pigmented inks, thus eliminating feathering and bleeding of the printed characters or numbers.

Therefore, the life of the ribbons used in connection with the present invention is many-fold over the life of the ribbons used without this reinking invention.

Therefore, it is one of the objects of this invention to provide machines, such as cash registers and/or accounting machines with an inking device for the ribbons While they are in actual use to control the wetness of the ribbons, to in turn control the intensity and legibility of the printing of records from the machine by these ribbons.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a reinking device for the ribbon to furnish the proper amount of ink to the ribbon at all times, thus producing printed records which have substantially the same intensity during the entire life of the ribbon.

A further object of this invention is to provide a freely mounted doctor roll, by means of which the ink is transferred to the ribbon from a supply source oniy during the regular feeding movement of the ribbon in either of its directions of feed.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a readily removably mounted ink reservoir carrying means for transmitting the ink therefrom to a doctor roll from which it is transferred to the ribbon, during the feeding movement only of the ribbon.

A more specific object of the present invention is the provision of a removably mounted two-color ink reservoir from which two different colors of ink are transmitted to a common doctor roll to be transmitted to a two-cclor ribbon during the feeding movement of the ribbon.

With these and incidental objects in view the invention includes certain novel features of construction and combinations of parts, the essential elements of which are set forth in appended claims, and preferred and modified forms or embodiments of which are hereinafter described with reference to the drawings which accompany and form a part of this specification.

In said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a lefthand elevation of the means for supporting the ribbon and also illustrates a portion of the mechanism for feeding the ribbon in either direction.

Fig. 2 is a detail view showing a portion of the ribbon feed operating mechanism.

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of a portion of the mechanism of 2, and in addition shows a portion of one of the ribbon spools and an additional part of the ribbon feeding mechanism.

Fig. 4 is righthand elevation of the. means for supporting the ribbon and illustrates the means for reinking and controlling the wetness of the ribbon.

Fig. 5 is a detail view in reduced size, showing the ribbon feed operating mechanism.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail View, partly in section, showing the removably mounted two color ink reservoir, the common doctor roll and the compression roils for holding the ribbon against the doctor roll to receive the ink therefrom, which ink has been transmitted to the doctor roll from the two-color ink reservoir.

Fig. 7 is a front elevation broken away in the center for the convenience of illustration, showing the mounting of the ribbon spools, the reinking device and a portion of the feeding mechanism for the ribbon.

Fig. 8 is a modified form of another two-color removably mounted ink reservoir with the top thereof omitted.

Fig. 9 is a side elevation of the reservoir shown in Fig. 8 with the top fastened thereon, and also illustrates the doctor roll and the supporting means for the two-color reservoir.

DESCRIPTION As has been herein before stated, this invention is particularly adapted for use in cash registers and accounting machines of the type illustrated and described in the Arnold and Placke Patents Nos. 2,141,332 and 2,351,541, respectively.

In the Placke patent is illustrated and described an accounting machine known in the art as a payroll machine, that is, one in which all records of a payroll of a manufacturing organization or any other type of business is made in the machine, and at the same time the employees checks are printed by the machine, showing usually the gross amount of pay, and deductions, and the not pay. The deductions are usually printed in red, since they are subtract operations, and for this reason a two-color red and black ribbon is usually used, and it is this type of machine, with a red and black ribbon, that has been used to show the embodiment of the present invention.

In this type of machine the printing mechanism is usually across the entire front of the machine. From this printing mechanism records are made on a journal sheet usually printed at the left of the machine, upon the employees checks, usually printed near the center portion of the machine and upon an audit strip which is retained in the machine, and usually located at the right side of the machine.

Only a part of such printing mechanism has been here shown, and fora more detailed illus-- tration and description thereof reference may be had to the above mentioned Arnold and Placke patents, particularly the Placke patent.

The ribbon spools are mounted on along shaft which extends across the width of the machine. This shaft is supported by a pair of brackets, in turn supported by the main side frames of the machine. From the spool the ribbon passes to pivotally mounted ribbon frames, which are shiftable for the purposes of bringing either the red or black portion of the ribbon intoprinting ali'ne-' ment with the type wheels which extend across the front of the machin as above mentioned, the ribbon being guided beneath these type Wheels by a combined ribbon guard and blur shield which extends across the front of the ma-" chine. This ribbon guard is carried'by the movable frames to guide the ribbon between the type wheels and the impression hammers whichare also located across the front of' the machine beneath the various groups of type wheels.

Removably mounted on the righthand ribbon frame'is a two-color ink reservoir having means therein for transmitting the two colors of ink' to a common doctor roll which is freely mounted on the ribbon frame and over which'the ribbon passes, said ribbon being held in contact with the doctor roll by two compression rolls mounted on swinging arms supported by the ribbon frame. As the ribbon is fed backward from one side of the machine to the other by'the ribbon feeding mechanism it is drawn between the doctor roll and the two compression rolls, thus causing them to rotate and transfer the two colors of 'inkfrom the common doctor roll to the two-color ink ribbon so that legible printed records may be made from the type wheels'by' meansof the ribbon on the various printing media above mentioned, such as the journal sheet} check, and audit strip during the entire life of th ribbon, which life is increased many-fold due to the fact that through the reinkingof the ribbon it is kept in a moist condition. y I

DETAILED DESCRIPTION I Ribbon supporting means A right hand, ribbon spool 30 andia lef-thand; ribbon spool 3! (Figs. 1, 4, and '7) are'mounted.

on a shaft 32, which is journaled in right and lefthand'brackets 33 and 34, respectively, supported by the machine main framework. Spring pressed Iatches35 and 36 cooperate with flange disks '3'! and 38 secured tothe'spools 39 and 3|, respectively, to retain the spools onthe shaft 32 in their'proper positions. Ribbon supportingand shifting frames 39 and 4e fulcrum around short shafts 4| and 42 supported by the brackets 33 and 34. The shifting frames 39 and 40 ha-vevertical slots 43 and 44, which cooperate with the shafts 4 and 42. These slots 43 and -4 4 terminate into openings as shown, which are for the purpose of removing the ribbon frames 39 and 49 from the machine when desirable, or when it is necessary to change a ribbon. The frames 39 and 49 are held in the positions shown with the ribbon below the type wheels by means of cams 45 and 46, secured to the shafts 4| and 42, each cam cooperating with a roller '41 and a pin 48, carried by the frames 39 and 40, so that in the normal positions of the parts the frames 39 and 40 are held in their downward positions to rovide a clearance between the ribbon and the type wheels.

Considering now Figure 4, a multi-colored ribbon 50 passes over a flanged roller and then downwardly over another flanged roller '52, carried by a U-shaped bracket 53. From the roller 52 the ribbon 50 is guided and supported by a ribbon guard 54 having an upturned lip 55, which is secured to the ribbon frames 39 and 49. From the ribbon guard 54 th ribbon is guided over a flanged roller 56 (Figs. 1 and 7) carried by a U-shapedbracket 51 secured to the ribbon frame 40. The ribbon 50 is thenpassed upwardly over a flanged roller 58 carried by the ribbon frame 40 and thence wound onto the lefthandribb'on spool 3|.

Latches 6| and 62 haveopen slots which engage adjustable eccentric collars 63 and' fidcarried by the ribbon frames 39 and 40, respectively, to hold the ribbon frames in their normal positions as shown. The eccentric collars 63 and 64 have serrated heads, which cooperate with pins 65, which lock the adjusted eccentrics 63 and '64 in their adjusted positions. The latch 6| is pivotally mountedon an arm 61 secured on -a shaft 69 supported by the brackets 33 and 34. The latch 62 is pivotally mounted on an arm68 also secured to the shaft 69. Springs 16 hold the latches 6| and 62 normally in engagement with their eccentric collars 63 and 6 4.

Pivoted on the shaft 69 is a lever H having a pin 12 which cooperates with a slot in the lower end of the arm 61. The lower end of the .arm 61 has an open slot, on side of which is held in engagement with a pin 13 on the bracket 33 by means of a spring 14 stretched between a pin on the arm 61 and the pin 12 of the lever 1|. Pivoted to the lever 1| is a link 15, which is moved first downwardly and then back to the normal position shown by means driven from the main operating shaft of the machine.

The downward. movement of the link 15 through the pin 12 rocks the arm .6! counter clockwise and at the same time rocks the (shaft 69 counter clockwise, whereupon th latches 6| and 62 move the ribbon frame 39 clockwise (Fig. 4.) around thefshaft 4| and at the same time move the ribbon frame 40 counter clockwise (Fig. 1) around the shaft 42 to bring .the red portion of the multi-colored ribbon 50 into printing aline ment with type wheels 16 (two of which are shown .in'Fig. 17., and the same being shown in dotted lines in Fig. (i) so that the printed impression made from the type wheels will be made in red through the red side of'the ribbon 59. When the link 15 is moved or restored upwardly to its normal position the shaft 69 is rotated clockwise, as viewed in Fig. 4, and counter clockwise as viewed in Fig. 1,whereupon thela'tches 6| and 62 rock the ribbon frames 39 and 4|!" back to the normal positions shown in Figs. 1 and 4, to again bring the black portion of the multicolored ribbon 50 into alinement with the type wheels 16.

After the ribbon has been shifted from the black to the red side in the manner above mentioned, the shafts 4| and 42 are rotated, whereupon the cams 45 and 46, through their contact with the rollers 4'! raise both of the ribbon frames 39 and 49 to bring the ribbon guard 54 and the horizontal portion of the ribbon beneath the type wheels up closer to the type wheels 16, ready for the impression hammers (not shown) to make the "impression upon the record material from the type wheels and through the ribbon. After the impression is made the cams 45 and 46 are reversely rotated and through the pins 48 lower the ribbon frames 39 and 49 to the positions shown in Figs. 1 and 4, thus moving the ribbon guard 54 and the horizontal portion of the ribbon some little distance below the type wheels 16 so that when the ribbon frames are shifted there will be no interference between the ribbon and the type wheels 16.

Ribbon feeding mechanism Since the feeding movement of. the ribbon is necessary to the proper reinking and control of the wetness of the ribbon, the means for feeding the ribbon onto each of the spools 36 and 3| will now be described.

Since the drawings are shown in the position to feed the ribbon onto the spool 3|, this will be first described. A feed ratchet 8: (Figs. 1, 2, and 3) is mounted to turn freely on the shaft 32 and has .a hub having two diametrically opposed fingers 82 engaging two diametrically opposed holes 83 in the flanged disk 36 which is secured to the ribbon spool 3|.

Cooperating with the feed ratchet 8| is a three-toothed feedpawl 84 supported by arms 85 and 86 pivoted at 81 on an arm 88 journaled about the shaft 32. The arm 85 has a nose 9| cooperating with a ratchet 92 iournaled about the shaft 32. This nose 9| holds the feed pawl 84 so that it is just beyond the circumference of the teeth of the feed ratchet 8| when the parts are in their normal positions.

Secured to the three-toothed feeding pawl 94 is a second three-toothed feeding pawl 93, which is in alinement with and cooperates with a feed ratchet 94, which is secured to the shaft 32. The teeth on the feed pawls 94 and 93 are alternately spaced as shown inFig. 1. In this figure one of the teeth on the pawl 84 is in a position to cooperate with feed ratchet 9| while the teeth on the pawl 93 are not in position to cooperatewith the ratchet 94. An alining pawl 95, pivoted at Won the arm '88, is held in engageme'nt with'the feed pawls 84 and 93 by a spring 96 stretched between the end of the .alin ing paw195 and a pin on the arm 98.

Cooperating with a pin H10, carried by the arm 8B,'is a forked arm |0| rigidly secured to a shaft I9 2 to which is alsosecured a gear seg ment IMP-meshing with "a" segment leye'r carrying-a roller 65 cooperating with" a box cam I03 rigidly secured to the main operating shaft I? of the machine. The shaft It? receives one counter clockwise rotation during each cycle of operation of the machine whereupon, through the train of mechanism just described, the arm 68 is rocked first clockwise and then counterclockwise. Upon clockwise movement of the arm 88 the nose iii of the arm 35 rides down into the bottom of the notch of the ratchet 82 under action of the spring 93, thus causing the three-toothed feed pawl 84 to move in between two of the teeth on the feed ratchet 8! so that upon continued clockwise movement of the arm 88 the pawl 84 turns the ratchet 8i and consequently the ribbon spool 3I in a clockwise direction to feed the ribbon upon said spool. As the arm 83 returns counter-clockwise to its normal position the nose 9! of the arm 85 rides upwardly on the teeth of the ratchet 92, thus disengaging the drive pawl 84 from the ratchet 8i so that said pawl 84 will not click over the teeth of said ratchet. A retaining pawl I38 prevents any retrograde movement of the ratchet 92 during this counter clockwise movement of the arms 88 and 85.

When the ribbon 50 is all wound off the spool 30 then a ribbon reversing mechanism comes into play so that the ribbon will be unwound from the spool 3I and again wound upon the spool 30.

This ribbon reversing mechanism works on the principle of that disclosed in the United States patent to Charles F. Rosien No. 1,578,209 dated March 23, 1926. Therefore, this mechanism will not be described in detail, it being thought sufficent to say that when the ribbon reversing mechanism comes into play a pawl III (Fig. l) is permitted to engage the feed ratchet 8% so that when the arm 88 is moved in a clockwise direction the drive pawl 84 cannot move said ratchet 8i and consequently the two drive pawls 34 and 23, they being secured together, will be turned in a clockwise direction at the same time forcing the alining pawl cutwardly until one of the teeth on the pawl 93 is engaged between two of the teeth on the ratchet 24, whereupon said ratchet 94 will be turned in a clockwise direction. This ratchet 94, as above mentioned, is fastened on the shaft 32, to which is also secured a collar H2 (Figs. 3 and 4) having two diametrically opposed fingers H3 engaging diametrically opposed holes H4 of the flanged disk 3'5, which is secured to the righthand spool 39, and consequently any turning of the ratchet 94 in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 1 will turn the shaft 32, the collar IE2 and spool 30 in a counter clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 4, to feed the ribbon 5E3 back onto this spool 33.

Rez'nlcing means Slidably mounted on square studs I2I (Figs. 4, 6 and 9) carried by the ribbon frame 39 is a grooved ink reservoir top I22 held in its normal position by a pivoted latch I23, which engages a notch in the lefthand stud I2I, as shown in Fig. 4. Threaded into the bottom part of the top I22 are two ink reservoirs I24 and I25, each carrying a wick I23 urged upwardly by a compression spring I2I. These wicks I26 project through guide bushings I28 secured in the top The wicks I26, by their springs I21, are held into contact with a crowned roller I30 freely mounted on a stud carried bythe ribbon frame 39 and located in such a position that the ribbon 50 contacts the crowned roller I30. Compression rolls I3I carried by arms I32 pivoted at I33 on the ribbon frame 39 are held firmly into contact with the top part of the ribbon 50 by springs I34 stretched between the arms I32 and a stud on the ribbon frame 39.

In the illustrated form of invention the reservoir I24 carries one color of pigmented ink and the reservoir I25 carries another color of pigmented ink which inks are, by means of the wicks I26 carried to the crowned roller I30. This crowned roller is made of non-ink absorbing material and consequently as the ribbon 50' is fed either onto or from the spool 30 the compression rollers I3I cause the ribbon 50 to turn the roller I30 and thus transfer the inks from said roller I30 into the ribbon.

Since there are two colors of ink in the'two reservoirs I24 and I25 the two-color ribbon 50 is adequately and properly supplied with the proper color ink on' each side thereof during the feeding movement of the ribbon in either of its directions.

Thus, it can be seen that with the reinking device herein illustrated and described, all of the disadvantages of a non-inked ribbon are overcome and all of the advantages of a constantly freshly inked ribbon are obtained, thus accomplishing all of the objects set forth at the beginning of this specification.

When it becomes necessary to refill the reservoirs I24 and I25, the operator merely raises the latch I23 and slides the entire unit, including the reservoirs and the top, off of the two square studs I2I and then with a screw driver'removes the reservoirs from the top I22 and refills them with ink.

From the above description it is clear that by means of the present ribbon inking device the proper wetness of the ribbon is definitely controlled so as to prevent both under-inking and over-inking of said ribbon. And this result is accomplished by turning the crowned roller I30 by the ribbon itself only when the ribbon is fed. By this method the ink from the reservoir, through the wick is transmitted to the crowned roller I30, and the turning of the roller I30 by the ribbon causes a thin film of ink to be deposited on said roller I30, and this ink, when the roller is turned, is transferred to the ribbon. During the time the ribbon is not being fed there is-no transfer of ink from the crowned roller.

Modified form In Figs. 8 and 9 there is disclosed a modified form of ink reservoir which will now be described.

A grooved reservoir top I40 is slidably mounted on the square studs I2I. Secured to this top by means of screws I4I (only one of which is shown, is a divided reservoir I42, having compartments I43 and I44 for the reception of dif ferent colored inks. In each compartment there is a wick I26 urged by a spring I2'I against the crowned roller I30.

The reservoir top I40 has two openings I45, one above each of the compartments I43 and I44, which openings I45 are normally closed by a cap I45. When it is desired to refill either of the compartments I43 or I44 the reservoir I42 is removed from the studs I2I. The screw MI is then loosened slightly, the cap I46 pivoted around to expose the holes I45, whereupon the compartments I43 and I44 may be replenished with ink.

This modified form of ink reservoir unit func-. tions in exactly the same way as the ink reservoir unit, described in the preferred form, functions.

While the forms of mechanism herein shown and described are admirably adapted to fulfill the objects primarily stated, it is to be understood that it is not intended to confine the invention to the particular forms of embodiment herein disclosed, for it is susceptible of embodiment in various forms, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow.

What is claimed is:

1. In an inking device of the character described, having a two-color ink ribbon, means for feeding the ribbon in two directions, spools on which the ribbon is wound, and a ribbon shifting frame for bringing each of the two-colored portions of the ribbon into proper printing position at the proper time, the combination of an insertable slidably mounted ink supply reservoir having separate ink compartments and having a pair of recesses adjacent the top thereof; a pair of sup porting members carried by said ribbon shifting frame to engage said pair of recesses in the reservoir upon insertion of the reservoir into its operative position, one of said members having a recess adjacent its free end; a pivoted member carried by said reservoir and adapted to be moved into engagement with the recess in said one supporting member to lock the reservoir in its operative position; a roller mounted on said ribbon shifting frame above said ink compartments; ink transmitting means projecting from each of said ink compartments to contact said roller to apply ink thereto from each of said compartments; and pair of resiliently operated members mounted on said ribbon shifting frame to press the ribbon against said single roller to cause rotation of said roller by the ribbon during feeding movement of the ribbon in either of its directions to transfer the ink from the ink transmitting means to said roller and thence to the separate colored portions of the ribbon.

2. In an inking device for accounting machines and the like, having a ribbon, means for feeding the ribbon in two directions and spools on which the ribbon is wound, the combination of a slidably and removably mounted ink supply reservoir having slideways; supporting members cooperating with said slideways and upon which said reservoir is slid when inserted into operating position; means on the reservoir adapted to cooperate with one of said supporting members to lock the reservoir in operating position; ink transmitting means carried by said reservoir; a non-inkabsorbing device contacting said ink transmitting means; and resiliently operated means to press the ribbon against said non-ink-absorbing device to cause rotation of the latter by the ribbon during feeding movement of the ribbon to transfer ink from the ink transmitting means to said non-ink-absorbing device and from the latter to the ribbon.

3. In a device of the class described, having ink ribbon, means for feeding the ink ribbon in two directions, and spools on which the ribbon is wound, the combination of an insertable and removable ink supply reservoir having recesses adjacent the top thereof; supporting members cooperating with said recesses upon insertion of the reservoir to support said reservoir in its operative position; means carrying said supporting members; means carried by the reservoir and cooperating with one of said supporting members to latch the reservoir in it operative position; a freely rotatable device mounted on said carrying means and interposed between a portion of the ribbon and ink supply reservoir; spring pressed wicking means projecting from the ink supply reservoir and contacting said device to transmit ink from the supply reservoir; and spring pressed rotatable means mounted on said carrying means and contacting said ribbon adjacent said device to firmly press the ribbon against said device to cause rotation of the device by said ribbon when the latter is fed in either of its directions to cause the ink which has been transmitted from the supply reservoir to be: thinly spread on said rotatable device and to cause said ink to be transferred from said device to said ribbon.

WALTER J. KREIDER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,414,865 Delbare May 2, 1922 1,942,722 Mosfelt Jan. 9, 1934 2,102,216 Pelton Dec. 14, 1937 

